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Monday, March 02, 2015

It’s not going to be Opening Day, let’s put it that way,” Scioscia said Sunday. “He knows it, and it’s great that he’s not going to be able to rush it because our medical staff’s not going to let him. There’s a progression. He has to pass every plateau. It’s great that he’s going to shoot for being ready. He’s working very hard to be ready Opening Day, but he’s not going to be ready Opening Day.”

Richards and the Angels previously had hoped that the right-hander would be ready by the time ...

Sorry, just because someone is in the public sphere does not mean anyone he knows is fair game. Some of the Tweets about his daughter are absolutely reprehensible. I only occasionally agree with Schilling but in this instance bringing the actions of these terrible people into focus is appropriate.

Sunday, March 01, 2015

But in the early stages of camp, no Oakland pitcher has elicited more chatter than a 29-year-old career minor leaguer with a novel gift. Pat Venditte, who signed with the New York Yankees as a 20th-round draft pick out of Creighton in 2008, has a 2.46 ERA and 431 strikeouts in 384 2/3 innings over seven minor league seasons. But his new teammates are far more impressed with his ability to pitch with both hands.

“For the first few days, he was the talk of camp,’’ Oakland manager Bob ...

The rifle report of balls popping into gloves, the finessed footwork of a double play, the sludgy streams of tobacco exiting mouths.

One of those mainstays of the national pastime could soon vanish from California’s major-league baseball fields.

Already banned in minor-league parks, tobacco would be prohibited at every baseball venue in California under legislation announced Tuesday by Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, D-Richmond. Thurmond and public health advocates justified the legislation as a ...

The “Cuban Comet” blazed a trail for Latin American players in the big leagues starting in the 1950s. Minoso drove in 100 runs four times for the Sox and hit .300 or better six times
...
Reinsdorf once said this of Minoso: “...He did everything. He could run, he could hit with power, he could field, he could bunt, he could steal bases. He did everything. He was a complete player. He was one of the most exciting players I’ve ever seen play, in the mold of a Jackie Robinson.”

“A hitter can take as many swings as he wants,” Butcher said. “Pitchers are only allowed a certain amount of throws per day. So when you start tinkering with the strike zone, I think it’s a longer adjustment process for a pitcher to go through. I think it would be a tough adjustment and the wrong adjustment for the league.”

“It seems like every time I look at him, he’s got a few guys around him,” manager Ryne Sandberg said of Francoeur. “I think there’s a good reason behind that. Players tend to go to him.”

Francoeur and Howard have been nearly inseparable during the first week of camp.

Their lockers are next to each other. They were in the same, three-man group, with infielder Andres Blanco, when hitters faced live pitching Friday. They are in the same, six-man team under Charlie Manuel’s guidance in the team’s ...

Joe Rosales and Scott Spratt’s, both of Baseball Info Solutions, co-winning article of the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference top research paper. Their work suggests that pitch framing, which has traditionally rewarded most of the credit to catchers alone, is actually a function of three independent participants: the catcher, pitcher, and umpire.

Expanded use of instant replay was a major talking point of the 2014 MLB season, but balls and strikes are notable
exclusions to the list of ...

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Donatelli trains willing athletes to improve their vestibular system — colloquially known as the inner ear, the system that controls balance. That system aids the eyes in focusing on a target even while the body and head are moving. Dysfunction in the vestibular system can affect an athlete’s ability to see things in motion, such as a baseball hurtling his way while his head and body are rotating to hit it.

Michael Saunders should be ready to rejoin the Toronto Blue Jays by mid-April rather than around the all-star break after the left-fielder had 60 percent of the meniscus removed from his left knee during surgery Friday.

Actor and cultural icon Leonard Nimoy died at the age of 83 on Friday. So in small celebration of the man and in keeping with our stated mission, let’s devote a few moments to the pitch Nimoy’s Mr. Spock inspired: the Vulcan changeup.

Chris Sale sustained an avulsion fracture on the lateral side of his right foot in an accident at his home on Friday. The left-hander is expected to be sidelined three weeks before resuming baseball activities, according to the White Sox.

In 2009, the Ricketts family paid $845 million for the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field, 25% of Comcast SportsNet Chicago and a small parcel of land outside the stadium. The owners recently recently raised a total of $150 million of equity to help fund the renovation of their ballpark by selling minority interests of the same assets to six investors, plus a tiny piece of land they subsequently bought for $20 million where there was a McDonald’s, for $2.25 billion, according to two people at ...

I watched a little bit of his defensive work,” Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. “I thought he worked really hard and that he’s getting there. We have a lot of guys over there who are really fundamentally sound, so he’s able to watch them and pick things up from them.”

The resultant publicity increased the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s membership rolls, which now include individuals in more than 40 states. Membership, which can be had for as little as $20, includes perks such as free admission to the museum and the ability to vote in Bobblehead Hall of Fame elections. (Fifty bobbleheads will be inducted as part of the initial class, with four per year receiving the honor after that). To create additional revenue, Novak and Sklar have also begun designing ...

In 2,057 career games, Ramirez has hit .285/.344/.496 with 369 home runs and 2,186 hits. Ramirez has made three All Star games in his career, including last season when he was elected a starter by the fans.

“...just to re-state it, for the current record: one standard deviation of the difference between actual wins and projected wins is found here to be 8.7. That’s a 17-win window, around a central projection…”

“We are the healthiest team in pro sports,” was written across the top of the menu at Camelback Ranch Thursday. That day’s lunch was organic seared pork chops, free-range herb seared chicken, organic baked potatoes and organic sautéed asparagus. Not exactly low-calorie, but fortifying and low on toxins.